A DRIVER who killed a devoted mum when he lost control of his car on a dangerous country lane was locked up.

Christine Favager, 69, was cycling down Asmall Lane in Scarisbrick in July last year when she was hit by a Vauxhall Vectra which was being driven “too fast” and “too close” to another car as it skidded around a bend.

Ryan Martin, 20, of Liverpool Road, Bickerstaffe, was sentenced to 20 months in a young offenders institute after pleading guilty to death by careless driving at Liverpool Crown Court.

Judge Mark Brown said Martin had shown “little remorse” for killing the mum.

The court heard how at just after 7.30pm on July 11 last year Mrs Favager, of Redwood Drive, Ormskirk, was cycling down the rural road towards her home when she was struck by a car travelling in the opposite direction.

Robert Golinski, prosecuting, said a taxi driver who was driving on the road at the time saw the defendant’s car swerve across two lanes before overcorrecting to avoid crashing into the car in front and hitting Mrs Favager’s bike, killing her instantly.

Mr Golinski said: “Mrs Favager was unable to avoid the vehicle. She was knocked backwards into a field where she died of multiple injuries.”

Investigations at the scene of the collision revealed that Martin, who was 19 at the time, had been driving at between 59-63mph on the approach to the bend and had slowed to between 31-40mph when he lost control of the car.

Mrs Favager’s husband of ten years, Eric and her son Andrew Horton paid tribute to the accomplished musician who had played violin and tenor horn in numerous orchestras and brass bands.

In a tribute they described her as “a bright and beautiful sprit who changed lives in many different ways”.

Andrew Scott, defending, said his client wished to apologise to everyone who had ever known and loved Mrs Favager and for all the pain he had caused.

He said: “What he saw, what he did and what the consequences are he will have on his conscience for the rest of his life.”

Banning Martin from driving for three years Judge Brown said he should have taken more care when driving near a vulnerable cyclist.

He said: “She was a very enthusiastic person who had years of life ahead of her and her family would have expected that she would have continued to live a full life. “But as a result of your careless driving you have taken that away from her and her family.”

Judge Brown gave Martin a small amount of credit for his guilty plea saying that his delaying of court proceedings had shown that he was only concerned with his own fate.